Our democracy needs rules for social media and search engines

On 16 April 2025, the Federal Council decided to further delay the draft law on the regulation of social media and search engines such as Instagram, X or Google, which has been announced for over a year. However, the discussion about the responsibility of social media and search engines and the necessary rules of the game urgently needs to take place.

In an open letter initiated by AlgorithmWatch CH, we are therefore calling on the Federal Council, together with CH++ and Digitale Gesellschaft, to commit to protecting our fundamental rights and our democracy – and to present a clear roadmap for platform regulation.

A large part of our democratic public sphere today takes place on private communication platforms. Yet we can neither understand how this happens nor what influence it has on our society. Nor can we effectively protect ourselves against manipulation and discrimination or counter phenomena such as hate speech.

But instead of moving forward, the Federal Council decided this week to further delay the draft law on the regulation of platforms such as social media and search engines, which has been announced for over a year. However, the discussion about the responsibility of platforms and the necessary rules of the game urgently needs to take place, as they affect essential fundamental and human rights such as freedom of expression, the right to privacy, protection against discrimination, media freedom and economic freedom.

Support our cause by co-signing the letter here: